I have a steel lugged frame bike from way back (late 70's or early 80's?). It is a Nishiki Cresta. It was bought as a frameset and built with parts that were sitting around at the time. The following are some particulars:

Sounds exactly like my bike. I bought mine for about 250. I think it makes an excellent touring bike, but it is the only road bike that i have owned so I have little to compare it to. But, hey, works for me.

Pictures? Serial number? It should be perfect for a touring bike, I think others will tell you that the Cresta IS a touring bike.

East Hill

Yes the Cresta was designed to be a touring bike so the frame is definitely suitable for the task. Since I bought it as a new frameset, the components are whatever I stuck on it at the time. It was what I had around or could scrounge up.

I am planning on making some changes, including downtube shifters. I am not sure how I feel about the bars. Initially I hated them, but they kind of grew on me for the little time I tried them out recently.

Edit: serial number looks like it says "KA 16323"

I was wrong about the wheels. THe Dura Ace hubs went somewhere else over the years. These wheels have some generic hubs labeled "Nashbar". I may stick with those wheels, but I do have a set of Deore XT Hubs and may consider lacing up some 700c wheels using them at some point.